Killer Instinct
by Elandil
Summary: Every year the games are held and each district tributes 1 boy and 1 girl. Every year is the same, but there can only be one victor. Let the 71st Hunger games begin and may the odds be ever in you favor!
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

The gong sounds and I find myself running forward, faster than I ever have before. All I can think is that the knives I can see wedged into the ground just a few more meters in front of me are going to be my only chance of survival here. I'm going so fast that when I stop to pull them up, I nearly fall flat on my face as I bend down to retrieve the shining weapons. This one mistake, the tiny loss of balance, is all she needs, the girl from district 4. As I try to regain my balance, she neatly plucks the first one out and turns on me with a wicked smile on her face;

"One down, twenty two to go!"

She takes one step closer to me, and I'm sure that I am about to die, when something behind me catches her attention. Without warning, the blade that had previously been aimed at my heart goes flying past my shoulder and sinks into some unlucky person behind me.

I want to know who it is that has been claimed by this girl, but for now she is unarmed and I will never get another chance like this again so, instead of turning round, I charge forward into the arms of the startled figure in front of me. When we collide, I know its not good, she is taller than me, and at least 5 pounds heavier, even if she doesn't have a weapon, she could probably just kill me with her strength alone, after all, they're not called careers for nothing.

While my brain works through all the grisly outcomes of this grapple, my body goes into auto pilot and I find myself dropping to one knee and throwing her over my shoulder, just as I had learned in training. This move was only meant to incapacitate her for a few moments, but as she hits the ground, a spray of red liquid hits me square in the face and for a minute I am shocked, then I see the body beneath her, the one with the sword sticking out of its chest, a sword that has now gone through my opponents stomach.

I stand there shocked for a minute as the girl thrashes around in agony, but then, the sight becomes too much for me and I slice her throat with one of the knives by my feet just to end her suffering.

Although I know I should run, I just can't move from this spot, the thought that I have just killed this girl roots me in place better than any chains ever could. Eventually however, my survival instinct begins to kick in and I start to run, but before I can take more than a few steps away from the grisly scene, I slip in the sodden soil and land face first on the ground. It is then, when my mouth starts to fill up with the taste of blood and decaying leaves that I start to scream, but for some reason no sound comes out.

It is probably a good job that I can make no sound because at that moment, I hear footsteps coming up behind me.


	2. Chapter 2

**A special message to Genealogy-James: ****Vielen Dank für die Überprüfung und Ihren Mangel an Wissen in Bezug auf das Buch sollte das kein Problem, da dies vor den eigentlichen Ereignissen in der Geschichte passiert sein (auch leid, wenn dies falsch is in keiner Weise, ist mein Deutsch sehr rostig)**

**Chapter 1**

The sound of my sisters screaming pulls me from my own nightmare and I awake to the bright sunlight filtering in through the broken windows. There is no one else in the house so I go and comfort Lily as she lays, screaming in her cot, but unlike me, she doesn't have a reason to be scared!

Some of us do though. My name is Erika; I'm a 12 year old girl from district 8 and today is THAT day, the day of the reaping where one boy and one girl are chosen from each of the 12 districts to participate in the hunger game. This is going to be my first reaping.

To keep myself from thinking about such things, I begin to prepare a meagre breakfast for the two of us as our parents have probably already eaten before they went to work in the factories, leaving early so that they don't have to face me, but I was expecting it, they did the same every year that Malachite was eligible for the reaping, until the year he was chosen.

For a while, I was so distracted by feeding my baby sister and cleaning the house that these morbid thoughts leave my mind entirely, but, after a while, I run out of things to do, there is no school today. Even though there is nothing left for me to do, I keep passing around our home that is closer to a hovel than a house, scared that, if I stop moving for even a second, the images will come back to haunt me.

Eventually, the decrepit walls around me begin to feel like a cage and suddenly claustrophobia threatens to suffocate me so I pick up Lily before all but running out the door, leaving the house and its depressing darkness behind me. Once outside, it is clear to see that I was not the only one who cannot manage to stay inside today and I head over to the group of kids from my class who are forming a huddle by the door way of one of the empty houses on our street. One house of many.

No one in the group is talking; there is nothing _to_ say really, but there can be comfort in silence and that is the best thing for all of us at the moment. Of course, we don't have it as bad as the older ones, some of us only have our name in the reaping ball once where as Fable's 17 year old sister has it in 24 times, but there is a chance of our reaping, there is always a chance.

Before long, the sky starts to darken and we all return to our homes to prepare for 4pm when we will have to report to the square for the reaping. Attendance is mandatory, no exceptions, and if you are court, the Peacekeepers will whip you if your lucky, or hang you if your not. This event that is pure entertainment to the Capitol is sheer hell for us.

At home, we eat a meal in silence, then my mother helps me wash and dresses me in my best clothes, we all need to look our best as the whole event will be broadcasted to the whole of Panem. She tries to hide it, but as she turns away, I see a tear in my mother's eye.

For the reaping, we report to the town square and have to sign in, then I am herded into the roped off are where all of the other 12 year olds are stood, there are six of these areas, as you break free of the hunger games when you turn 18, but there is a big open area down the side for all the parents and other adults to stand. At the front, on several polished seats clearly visible on the stage upon which they are perched sit four people behind a desk. The woman sitting closest to the reaping ball which holds the girls names is Cecelia, she is the victor who was chosen to mentor the girl tribute this year it seems. Next to her sits Woof, he is to mentor the boy. The other two seats are taken up by our mayor and the representative of the capitol, Maria Vestal.

We wait in silence as the reaping starts and Mayor Elm begins the traditional speech about the history of Panem, the country that rose from the ashes of what used to be North America, a shining Capitol supported by its 13 districts. I tune him out for a bit, but when he gets o the part about the dark days, I bring my focus back to the stage, the reaping is about to start for real;

"… So after the end of the rebellion and the destruction of district 13, the capitol had to find a way to make sure that such events would never be repeated. As a result of this solution, we were given… The Hunger Games!"

After this, Maria stands up and does the usual speech about how good it is to be here and how excited she is about this years games, reminding us that ours was the district that won last year, our victor being a young boy named Jasper who went mad and killed himself shortly after returning from the arena, something we do not wish to be reminded of.

Without further ado, she strides over to the ball on the right side of the stage, the one next Cecelia, and gropes around until she manages to pull a slip of paper out.

In the few seconds that it takes her to walk back to the podium in the centre of the stage, I pray with every fibre of my being that it is not me, but it seems that there is no God as, the next thing I know, she is calling out the name on the slip;

"Erika Falcon"

As I walk forwards through the gap the crowd around me has recently formed, I feel every set of eyes in the square lock onto me. They are not happy, they never are, but when a 12 year old is chosen, that is when their disapproval is at its peek. This anger however, is not aimed at me, no, it is aimed at the Capitol, and it is with their support that I manage to climb the steps of the stage with my head held high.

"Ladies and Gentlemen, lets all give a warm welcome to our newest tribute, Erika Falcon!"


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 2**

They don't want to clap, they never do, especially when it is a twelve year old that is chosen, but they don't have a choice, so I stand there, in the middle of the stage, looking out at a sea of unhappy faces, but having to acknowledge the applause just the same. When they ask for volunteers, the whole place is silent, no one will help me, but then, I never expected that they would, no one cares about me enough to lay down their own life in exchange for mine, and I wouldn't do that for anyone either, in district 8, to be called forth at the reaping is to die, and there is no way around that.

The rest of the reaping passes in a flash, or maybe I'm just to shocked to pay attention, either way, it feels like no time at all until I am being marched off the stage behind the other tribute, a 16 year old that I only know is called Seth, and down into the justice building. Once in there, we are lead off into separate rooms where we will say goodbye to our loved ones before a train will take us off to the capitol.

Surprisingly, the first person that they show in is not from my family, for some unknown reason, it is my school teacher Vixen. I say this is a surprise because I have never been a good student, always being loud in class, and so my relationship with this woman has always been antagonistic at best, but I guess, once the reaping comes around, all past sins vanish and you become loved by the people who formerly despised you.

After the tearful embrace, her tears, not my own, she is shown out and my parents are allowed in. This second meeting is worse than the first, as these are people who I would actually miss and who I know will miss me once I'm gone, but still the tears refuse to come as my shocked mind refuses to accept the events of the past hour, for an hour it must have been since this event began. Instead, we just sit there in silence as we embrace each other, conveying through our muteness what words never could, but eventually their time is over and the next people are herded in.

And so this goes on for a seemingly endless amount of time before I am escorted out of the building an down to the station where I am to be blinded by flashes and forced to wave at the cameras before I am imprisoned on this irksome vehicle, destined for a journey that will last for the better part of 2 days and will end in me being handed over to a team of strangers who will make me suitable for the eyes' of the Capitol.

Maria is our escort for the games, and it seems that her job includes ordering us around on the train as well, for it doesn't take long for her to get everything in order. Under her demon glare I am shown to my compartment on the train and she informs me that dinner will be in the main cart in roughly an hour's time, her voice implies that it would not be a good idea to be late.

Now that I am finally alone, the reality of the situation hits me, and the tears that had seemed so unattainable in the luxurious room back home, seem to fall in never ending streams now. I cry for my friends, who had attempted to cheer me with talk of an impossible victory though their own faces displayed the anguish that I was too numb to feel, for my parents and sister that will have to watch me kill and be killed on the screens as the games progress and for my home, which I shall never see again. I cry so much that, by the time the Capitol assistant comes to show me to dinner, my face is red and my chest feels hollow, but I have a part to play, so I wash the tell tale traces of my tears from my face and fix a fake grin on my face before allowing the man outside my door to escort me.

Dinner is a silent affair, no one feels up to talking, but at least the food is good, the only problem is that my stomach is so twisted that the extravagant dishes turned to sand in my mouth making it rather difficult to swallow, still, I managed, somehow.

All the way through the meal, I get the disconcerting feeling that there are eyes upon me, and eventually, I cannot take it much longer so I stride from the room. I am sure that this will gain me some disapproving looks from the others at the table and I think that I felt a murderous glare coming from Marie, but I take no notice and just walk off randomly down the train, allowing my feet to take me where ever they please.

I soon find myself at one of the large windows, but that does little to help my mind calm down as the darkness makes it impossible to make out anything other than my own reflection. Reluctant to return to the scorning that is surely awaiting me, I slide myself into the gap between the wall and some sort of cabinet, but I can still see the pale, hunched figure hiding in the corner and I close my eyes to shut out the image. However, no matter how much I try, shutting out the reality becomes more and more impossible as flashes of previous hunger games drift around behind my eyes, mixing together and twisting into new scenes that come from my imagination designed to play on my wildest fears and each one reaching its conclusion with my death. Before I know it the tears begin again and I try desperately to fade into the shadows.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

I wake up in the soft bed I had seen in my compartment earlier, though I have no recollection of returning here last night. Someone must have found me and carried me back, probably the last act of kindness I will see, and I missed it. Still, I cant help feeling a piece of gratitude to who ever it was that had helped me, until I remember that they are one of the ones preparing to end me to my death and I kill the feeling immediately.

From the looks of the light filtering through a gap in the heavy drapes by the window, some one must have closed them after I last left; it was probably just after dawn, a full day after I had had that rather disturbing but scarily prophetic nightmare in which I was a hunger games contestant.

Though it was still early, I could hear people moving around in the corridor and I caught myself going to join them, but that was before I remembered my actions of the night before and decided that I would face the disapproval of my travelling companions when I was better fit to endure the hardships that today would bring. Instead, I drifted to my on suite bathroom and began to wake myself up.

The first part, untying my hair and pulling off my rather extravagant nightgown that I had only, just now, noticed, was easy and I did it pretty much without thinking, but when I climbed into the shower, I found myself confronted with a panel of buttons that I had no idea how to use, a puzzle that managed to absorb me for the next ten minutes, but eventually I got bored of this perplexing piece of machinery and just punched in a random pattern. Unfortunately, because of this, I soon found myself plastered in some sort of sticky, green liquid that smelt strongly of pine trees but also seemed impossible to rid myself of. However, before that could become too much of a problem, the three shower heads began to pray a fine mist of some strange chemical that removed the bubbles, but took the top layer of my skin with it, leaving my entire body baby pink from head to toe.

When I finally escaped the, seemingly never ending, onslaught of different, brightly coloured liquids being excreted from the metal box, it was only to find myself face to face with Maria who had seemingly taken it upon herself to make sure I did not repeat my disappearing act from last night, and give me a lecture about proper table manners while she was at it… not that I paid attention to the words that came after;

"We were so worried about you!"

That was a lie; the only thing she worried about was the demotion that was surely going her way if she managed to lose a tribute before they had even arrived at the capitol. However, it would not do to have this well meaning, if not totally mislead, woman hate me, even if I hated her, she would be the first person that potential sponsors would meet and I needed some of them if I hoped to survive five seconds in the game, best to smile and act contrite than glower and act hostile;

"ooh, I'm ever so sorry, its j-just that I was t-too upset last night, y-you see, it's the f-first time I've ever b-been away from my parents for longer than a f-few hours!"

I thought that I was laying it on think with the stammer and the fake tears, but my spectator seems not to notice as she is soon clucking her tongue and fluttering her hands around me in a protective manner spewing bits of nonsense such as;

"Oh you poor thing, you'll be okay!"

And;

"aw poor little mite."

I don't even know what the last know what the last bit means, but if it will encourage her to leave me alone, or maybe even give me a little help in the way I am presented to the sponsors, it might be best to capitalize on this chance so, as is expected of the homesick little twelve year old, I spontaneously break into a rather realistic round of, fake, tears which, of course, she eats right up. Idiot!

I am still sniffling when Maria leads me back towards the dining compartment where we had eaten the night before, her arm draped reassuringly around my shoulders. Inside, I find that the room looks far different in the natural lighting of the morning sun than it had in the artifical glow cast off from the ornate chandelier that is suspended from the ceiling by a slim silver chain. The room looks warmer, friendlier even, but I know full well that looks can be deceiving, so this extensive display of grandeur has little effect on me.

The only other people in the room once we enter are Cecelia and Seth who is currently working his way through a bread roll from the basket in front of him and sipping cautiously at a glace of some sort of orange liquid in a tall glass. He is so distracted by the food that he doesn't even notice us, even when the door closes behind us with a sharp snap, but Cecelia does. The minute the door opened her head had snapped up, but then, she didn't become a victor for nothing. The face that greets us is pleasant enough, with a broad smile and twinkling eyes, but I can see that, that smile is as fake as my tears and the look in her eyes tells me that, just as she cannot fool me, I cannot fool her… And I am in trouble as soon as our private sessions begin.

However, as I help myself to the spread on the long tables around the room, instead of fearing, I am actually anticipating the on coming clash of wills; it might make for a rather interesting game, a rather interesting one indeed…


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 4**

As soon as everyone at the table had finished there meal and I was beginning to feel a little bit more relaxed, the storm broke. Before I had even registered the fact that she was moving, I felt Cecelia's hand come down on my shoulder in a relatively friendly way, but the grip it held there was anything but.

"If you all don't mind, I think I'm going to steal Erika for a while before we reach the capitol, best to get her training started as soon as possible!"

I wanted to object, but my hands were tied, what could I say; that I'd rather take my chances alone in the arena, something that could quite possibly kill me, rather than receive the mentoring that could very well serve to expand my life span? No, I could do nothing but obediently stand and exit the room with an experienced killer that was currently rather upset with me.

The next five minutes were spent navigating through the long corridors of the train until we reached my mentor's private accommodation where no one would bother us, mores the pity. The inside was very much the same as my own, with the heavy purple drapes at the window and the large, plush bed pushed up against the wall. In the middle of the deep crimson carpet was an ornate white table with a pair of matching chairs, one of which I had no option but to lower myself into.

As I waited for the woman across from me to get comfortable in the high backed chair, I covertly surveyed the distance from myself to the door, half considering making a run for it, but I don't believe that I will get far so I just turn back and stare straight into the eyes of my companion. I wait, but she just continues to steeple her fingers so I decide to get the ball rolling, maybe she is intending to mentor me and not yell… Well, I can dream!

"So…."

I gesture with my hand to show that she is to continue the sentence, but she just continues to stare at me in a rather appraising way, something that is neither worrying nor comforting, but uncomfortable just the same. It seems as though she is sizing me up and it is great thought that she begins to speak;

"Before I say anything, I want to warn you, your tears will NOT work on me, I have seen you back in district 8 and if you didn't cry when your brother came back in three pieces and sealed in a box, you would not cry about getting told off by a woman that is about as strict as Craig!"

Both of the situations that she brought up made me flinch, the first, my brother Malachite, when he returned from the arena in a casket after being torn apart by some mutts of Capitol design and the second of a peacekeeper who was incredibly kind and lenient to the people of the district, well he was, before he was publicly executed for sparing the lives of a small group of rebels that had tried to blow up one of the factories. Still, what she said was true; there was no way that anything Maria said could bring me to tears, especially not now. Dead girls don't cry!

"Now first of all, your behaviour at dinner last night and the rest of it, that is not acceptable! You need to be more conscious of what effect your actions will have on the people around you, it could mean the difference between receiving sponsors and being totally alone in the arena! But, I'm guessing that you already know how to play people as that idiot at breakfast seemed to be totally won over…"

After that, she smiled properly and, for the first time since the whole event started, seemed to really relax. The rest of the journey was spent talking tactics I that room and even when we came to a stop at one of the stations in the capitol, they had to send some attendants to pull us apart. Soon it would be time for me to meet my stylist and their team who would then spend the rest of the day making me "pretty" for the presentation of the tributes to the capitol viewers, not that they would be able to do much, every pair of tributes had to be dressed in something that represented their district and, next to district 12, we always had the worst costumes.

Still, even as they were pushing us into the dark limos with the tinted windows, I couldn't help feeling slightly hopeful, if the strategy we had cooked up in that room together worked properly, then I would have sponsors tripping over their selves to help me once I entered the arena, something that could mean the difference between life and death for me. However, this whole plan relied a lot on my stylist catching on and adjusting the theme accordingly, we all had to play this just right.

When the car ride ends, we are ferried out of the vehicle and into the tall building where we would first meet our teams. We were just about to reach the doors when I remembered that, even if it was unofficial, the games had already started, so I had to play my part too. Fixing a small, sad smile on my lips, I entered into the extremely gaudy foyer and walked towards the three people standing next to a giant, glass elevator that were waving pointedly at me, the last words of advice that Cecelia gave me echoing through my mind;

"No matter what they do to you, and you are probably not going to like most of the things, don't complain, just grin and bear with it!"  
And that was exactly what I planned to do!


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 5**

"ooh, look at her, just who's the cutest little girl in the games then?"

My ludicrous prep team seemed to think that they were working on a cat not a person, but, for once, I let this annoyingly patronising statement pass, I still had my image to maintain after all and weak little 12 year old girls didn't go round shouting at adults. Instead, I just gave them a half embarrassed, half sad smile and said thank you, this of course set them all off with the clucking again, but I couldn't help but feel pleased, if all the citizens of the Capitol were as brainless as the ones I had met, this might be easier than I had planned!

I had spent the hour being plucked, groomed and being covered in strange liquids that made my skin crawl and stomach churn, but I kept to the instructions Cecelia had given me and just acted like my torturers were the nicest possible people in the world for "helping me look my best and attract sponsors," even though I was cursing them with every swear word I knew inside my mind. They just carried on with their dim witted attempts at engaging me in conversation or cheer me up for the rest of the time I was in their care, for the most part I just tuned them out, if not, I felt like I was in danger of losing several IQ points.

After an immeasurable length of time, my suffering came to an end with the appearance of my stylist, a young-ish woman with blood red hair that fell, in sharp curls, to her shoulders and a stylised butterfly made from small, black stones inlaid into her cheek, I didn't really pay attention to her name, what did it matter. My prep team made their hasty goodbyes and I found myself alone in the room with this strange person, I expected her to carry on where they had left off, but she just stood there staring at me as I stood in the middle of the room clad only in a towel, needless to say, it was not a very comfortable position to find yourself in.

More and more time passed and still she did nothing, it was all I could do to keep staring her straight in the eyes and not fidget from foot to foot, I hated to be stationary when I was in unsavoury situations. My eyes were beginning to ache from the continuous staring when finally her gaze shifted from my body to my eyes and finally she spoke, in a voice that was closer to a purr than anything else that I could think of;

"So, you're what I have to work with this year, I hope you're not as stupid as you look, but according to Cecelia that shouldn't be a problem!"

I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or an insult, but if she had been speaking to my mentor she was a person I did not have to act in front of, it was a relief to finally glare at someone for once instead of having to smile and play the grateful beggar.

"Nice, so I have to be tortured and insulted as well as killed in this depraved excuse for a peace keeping measure? Why don't you just dip me in acid and save yourselves all the trouble? Oh, but I forgot, you can't make a television program out of that can you? Better to let me starve to death or have some kid I have never, kill me in my sleep, that would be much more entertaining!"

At first, I had only set out to provoke this woman with the smug attitude and superior air into losing her grip on that infuriatingly cool countenance of hers, but half way through, all my pent up anger and frustration at my predicament started coming out through my words and by the end I was almost shouting in my fury, surprisingly though, the figure in front of me only smiled, like she had expected this outburst. I realised that the words I had just spoken could get me into a great deal of trouble if they reached the wrong ears, so you can understand how shocked I was when my stylist nodded her head as if in agreement with me and flashed a knowing smile.

"I like your spirit kid, better than the last girl I had, just sat there and cried the whole time! Lets you and me be good friends from now on!"

In the time that followed, it became clear that this woman, Roza, was privy to all of the plans, made in that small room on the train and after I had been given up to the prep team, it seemed that she was generally on my side too, something to be glad of at least. It also became apparent that, unlike all the other representatives of the Capitol it had been my misfortune to meet in my brief time here, this one actually had a brain, another thing that delighted me, if I was going to survive this, I would need more than a group of bumbling idiots supporting me.

Finally we got onto talk about the costume I would be wearing at the opening ceremony tonight, something I was dreading, and Roza began to fix my make up, adding a dark smudge of eyeliner here and some light pink gloss there, until I looked just right! When the time came for me to put on my clothing however, she wrapped a strip of dark cloth, tightly around my eyes, effectively killing my vision. Before I could protest however, I felt her slip something silky over my head and I was immediately distracted. As each pair of tributes would be required to wear something displaying the main industry of their district, so Seth and I would have to wear something related to the factories, however, all luxury items for the capitol were made by district 1 so I had no idea where silk tied into this theme.

"Why am I not allowed to see the dress, or is it supposed to be a lame secret that will cheer me up when I see it?"

A breathy laugh was my only answer, but before long, I felt the knot around the back of my head come undone and I found myself looking into a full length mirror.

The person staring back at me with awestruck eyes was a young girl with blond hair held back by a dark grey band wearing a shimmering dress that seemed to change colour every time the fabric shifted, making it look like the garment was stitched with every single type of thread there was, also, at some angles, a faint silver line could be seen that outlined the shape of one of our factories on the skirt. Some time when I had blindfold on, Roza had lightly covered my face and arms with a powder that gave the same multicoloured effect. The whole outfit, joined together, gave the impression that I was a doll, one of the ones we made in the factories, however, my stylist was not done. From behind my back she fastened a chain of silver beads at my throat and made me step into some soft, black pumps before stepping back and declaring;

"Now you are officially ready!"

I only wish I felt that way too…


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

For the opening ceremony, all the tributes need to gather in a small, enclosed area beneath the building where they are to mount their district carriage, this will then pull them out, in order, to join, the procession. Although the Hunger games technically start on the day of the reaping, this is the first day that the Capitol audiences get to see it live, so out in the streets there is a festival feel with loads of coloured flags and lines of bunting. Back at home we are also forced to treat this event as a holiday, and watching them take place is mandatory, but when you have to see children you know and love killed in some strange environment for the sport of your suppressors, you just can't quite put enough energy into celebrating it, most of us just go through the motions.

Partly to distract myself from the other tributes, and party to distract myself from the parade that is waiting for me in the not to distant future, I turn my attentions to the horses that will pull our carriages, soft, bay mares that seem to enjoy being patted. Stroking them calms me down, soothing me in a way I did not think possible, and I have almost managed to forget about my current situation, so when I feel a heavy hand fall on my shoulder, I almost jump out of my skin. It is only Seth though, even if he is outfitted in a similar fashion to me, so I soon calm down and my hand goes back to its monotonous task, this time, Seth's hand joins mine in the petting.

Before long however, we are joined by the two stylists, Seth's and my own, who all but force us onto the carriage before stepping back to admire their handy work, they seem pleased, well, at least someone is happy. Again I feel a hand at my shoulder and I turn to face Seth, looking at him, but refusing to meet his eye, how can I when we will be trying to kill each other in just a few short days? Still, this doesn't seem to perturb him and he bends down to whisper in my ear;

"Chin up, look proud and let's give these bastards a show, let's prove to them that we will not do everything that they want of us!"

His words shock me into actually giving him my attention, which he acknowledges with a smile before he pulls me down to the floor of the cart. I barely have time to throw him a confused look before we are moving and his arm finds its way around my shoulder, pulling my head close to his mouth;

"Lean on my shoulder and pretend to cry, that way, the sponsors will think you're a sweet little girl and try to help you!"

"Oh and what might you get out of this little charade?"

"Well, I figure, if we play out this big brother, little sister thing, we might make more of an impression than if we go at it alone!"

His answer make my lips pull up in a tight smile, but I see where he is coming from, if the Capitol thinks that we are related, they might be more willing to help us, plus, this means that I don't have to show my face to the sponsors, making this a doubly good idea. The only problem is our surnames, but I doubt anyone would be bothered enough to look them up in the first place.

As we leave the last of our cover, I wrap my arms around his neck as we sit on the wooden floor, burying my face into his chest and making my shoulders shake with my, fake, sobs. I guess this is believable, because a few seconds after we enter the brightly lit streets, we hear a sympathetic "oooh" from the audience and Seth is pretending to help me to my feet as though we had both fallen over when the carriage had started to move forwards. Playing my part to its fullest, I pretend to wipe my eyes as I turn to look at the people stood in the stands before deciding that I have had enough and turning back into the cover of the boy beside me. Just as I am turning however, I catch sight of us on the big screen mounted in the square and I finally figure out the point of the heavy smudge of makeup just above and below my eyes; the two on the screen are figures made of marble that's colours dance in the moving light, a boy that looks strong and reliable but concerned and protective as he comforts the weeping child (I really am quite short for my age) who looks out at the audience quickly with heavy eyes before hiding again in her protector. I hate to say it, but those stylists are geniuses!

One disadvantage with having to cover my face like this, is that I have no clue what so ever about what is going on around me, it also makes it a lot harder to keep my balance for some reason and I would have fallen at least 3 times if Seth hadn't been there to support me. Still, I was reluctant to move apart and ruin the illusion that Roza and her partner had created. Right now, I guess we looked like a stone statue, solid, strong, unmovable, but still able to send out a feeling of melancholy that made the watching crowd pity us, but acknowledge out strength at the same time. There was something about this arrangement that puzzled me however; this tactic presented us as a whole, a partnership, which is something we could not maintain in the arena where we would be forced to kill each other if either of us wanted to get back home, but, I guess we could be allies for a short while at least. Allies, hmmm, this could be useful!


	8. Chapter 8

_A/N: Sorry about the late update, but as an apology, I have a little treat for you, you get to see the world through Seth's eyes for a change :P_

**Chapter 7**

(Seth's POV)

From the moment she was called forward in the reaping, my world stood still. Why on earth did it have to be her? She was only 12 for crying out loud, there was no way that she could win on her own!

Without really thinking, I volunteered to take the place of the boy who had been called out as tribute, if this young girl did not have a guardian angle of her own, then I would provide the service, no matter the cost to myself, I had promised Malachite that much. From the stage, I could see the already pale faces of my parents go stark white, this must be hard for them, but there was nothing I could do to help with that!

On the train, Erika was silent, I wanted to go up and talk to her, but I decided that I will respect her privacy, so I just stand there quietly too, it isn't so bad, I am used to silence.

At dinner everyone is just looking at her, so I do too, she looks as though she is about to cry, but then, who wouldn't? When she goes storming off, I don't blame her, she has just been given the death sentence, and now she is being treated like an animal in a cage. I want to follow her, but it would not be safe. Best to wait and find her later, when everyone else has calmed down.

With my mentor and the escort, I settle to watch the reaping re-cap on the TV, but I don't really pay much attention to it, I am too busy thinking of Erika, alone and crying in the darkness of the train. I do pay attention to our own reaping however, the whole square goes silent when she steps forwards to take the stage, no one is happy, but then, happiness is a luxury held by the people in the Capitol, we hold no say in these games.

When the reaping has finished and the adults have gone to discuss tactics over glasses of wine, I am free of scrutiny. I use this chance to look for her, but she has not returned to her compartment so I end up wandering the corridors aimlessly. I wonder if she knows, if she was ever told, but I doubt it, I only know because I am old enough to remember. If she does not know, I will not tell her, I owe Malachite that much.

For many hours I wander the empty passages of the train, avoiding all the Capitol citizens in the long, twisting corridors, I do not wish to talk to them, those who condone such savage acts that shall claim the life of this young girl, for me they are just monsters. I have stopped looking, so when I find her, I am shocked. She has hidden herself well, hunched over in the small space that only she could enter, I would not have found her had I been looking.

When I look down on her, I find that she is asleep, red tear tracks lining her cheeks. There is no point in waking her, so I just pick her up and carry her back to her room. Without her, normally, guarded expression, she feels tiny and breakable in my arms. She sucks her thumb in her sleep, but I already knew that, she has been doing it since she was a baby after all.

That night is awful, I just keep seeing images of the different ways that she may be killed, in many of them, there is no way for me to help her, in most I am already dead. All these scenes lead to a long and troubled night, the only sleep I get is full of prowling shadows and vicious knives, by morning, I am dead on my feet.

I go to the dining room too early, but I am not only there, the mentors are already slumped at the table over steaming cups of some dark brown liquid. Trying not to draw attention to my self, I gather some food quietly before going to sit in the corner. The victors do not notice me, but then, I have never had much of a presence, most people don't even know that I exist.

I have nearly finished my food when the door opens and Erika is herded in by our escort. She is crying, but her tears seem false, unlike last night, they do not leave pink trails on her cheeks.

After they have eaten, Cecelia takes Erika off for private mentoring, Woof tries to do the same for me, but I do not acknowledge him, soon he gives up so I am free to wander the train by myself. As I walk past a slightly open door, I hear two of the staff talking, they are discussing me. For some reason, they believe that I cannot speak; I do not care enough to correct them.

When we are handed over to our prep teams, I lose sight of her again and it annoys me, on the train she was with someone from home at all times, but now she is totally alone, I do not like it!

My prep team try to talk to me but I don't listen, maybe if they also think that I cannot speak, they will leave me alone. They do many things to my body and I just let them, there is no sense in fighting now, better to save my energy for when it is needed in the arena.

When my stylist finally lets me go, I am taken down to an underground room, I don't like it, it brings back bad memories.

I find her over by the carriage, petting the horses, it makes her look so defenceless that I go over to guard her from the back. She doesn't seem to notice my presence so I lay my hand on her shoulder. She tries to hide it, but I know that she was caught unawares, trying to calm her down, I copy her and stroke the mare's main.

As our stylists force us onto the carriage, a new idea comes to me so I place my hand on her shoulder again. She turns in my direction, but she refuses to look me in the eye so instead I lean down to speak in her ear;

"Chin up, look proud and let's give these bastards a show, let's prove to them that we will not do everything that they want of us!"

That grabs her attention, and when her wide brown eyes turn to mine just as we begin to move. The sudden change to our position nearly makes her fall, but I reach out and steady her, I have a hard time keeping the smile off of my face, still I continue;

"Lean on my shoulder and pretend to cry, that way, the sponsors will think you're a sweet little girl and try to help you!"

Her sharp eyes narrow and she seems to be puzzling out my words, normally people don't work together in the games, that must be what she is confused about. This proves it, she does no know. With this new piece of information, I don't know whether I want to laugh or cry, she does not know, but our stylists did, that must be why they dressed us like this! Finally, she gives up the puzzle and just asks me straight;

"Oh and what might you get out of this little charade?"

Her sharp tone catches me by surprise, but my words were already figured out;

"Well, I figure, if we play out this big brother, little sister thing, we might make more of an impression than if we go at it alone!"

Yes, this will be the plan that she knows, the plan that will allow me to watch over her without drawing suspicion to my self.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

(Erika)

The rest of the procession goes as planned, but, standing there, leaning against the boy beside me, I get dangerously close to relaxing, but that is not good! He has already caught me off guard once, I will not let that happen again however, if I do, it could mean my death and that is something that I shall not allow to happen!

It takes so long to actually get to the training centre that, by the time that we are allowed to dismount from the carriage, my knees are so weak that I would have fallen if not for the fact that Seth's arms were still locked tightly around my shoulders keeping me firmly upright. Even though I know that it is not a good idea to trust this person too much, I am still grateful that he is here for the time being. Falling would have made me seem weak, making me a target for all the others, that would not be good!

As it is, I can feel the eyes of the other tributes glued to us, but that is not so surprising, most people go into these games as individuals from the start, but we went in as a couple, as a supporting pair, as siblings. I would also like to bet tat some of them are feeling sorry for us… grudgingly of course, not that that will get us any definite help, but maybe some of them would be more willing to be allies now?

From the unloading area, we are shipped off up the building to our accommodation until we are shipped off into the arena, but it involves being shoved into tiny little, metal boxes upwards for the next 5 minutes, is it too late to say that I am more than a little claustrophobic? What ever, I dealt with it, even if my "dealing with it" was me squeezing Seth's hand so hard that I am pretty sure that the circulation stopped at one point. For some reason though, he did not complain, maybe he didn't want to alert the others in the compartment to my discomfort?

The only other people in the box by then were two small-ish kids with pitch black hair and grey eyes, judging from the fact that they wore some kind of black suit with headlamps, I guessed that they were from district 12, coal mining.

By the time that we finally escaped that insufferably small space, Seth's hand was white and I was having a hard time just simply trying to stop myself from screaming, still, being in the position to actually have dominance over another person is quite a nice feeling, rather than just being an ant to be squashed underfoot like normal.

When we step out onto our floor, we find that our mentors are waiting, but all they do is show is to our rooms and tell us to get ready for dinner in about half an hour, I try to catch Cecilia's eye, but for some reason, she doesn't look at me. My first instinct is to think that it is something that I have done wrong, but nothing springs to mind, not even when I spend about 15 minutes thinking about it whilst scrubbing the glittering powder off of my skin, (the stupid stuff just refused to come off until my skin felt raw and tender.) In the end, I decided that it must have been something else that had earned her disapproval, it wasn't as though I had broken any rules by teaming up with Seth at such an early stage in the games!

As it is, I head out to dinner braced for the explosion that I am sure is about to take place, what I didn't expect however, is the large cacophony that greeted my ears, accompanied by flashes of light and falling bits of coloured paper… what on earth?

"Congrats on making a big splash on your entry to the games!"

Errrrrrr

That was it, dinner or no dinner (and there was probably going to be no dinner), I was not going to stand around here and put up with the strange festivities thought up by my deranged prep team!

Turning on my heals, I was about to make the best exit in the history of dramatic exits when I walked right into a solid wall of 6 ft tall tribute, perfect!

After that, I was forced to sit through the whole meal, there was really no way of me being able to fight off Seth at the moment, not to mention the other annoyances around the table. On the upside, the adults let me try some of their red whine, with it's half sweet, half acidic taste and numbing sensation. I only got to drink about one glass of it though, before Seth took it off of me, he then proceeded to give a long, pointless lecture to the woman who had given it to me about trying to make his little sister drunk. For some reason, this rather irritated me more than anything else today that I could remember, (though admittedly, due to the mixture of nerves and alcohol, I couldn't remember _much_) I mean, I know that he is supposed to be acting like a big brother and everything, but why does he have to do so in front of our teams and why does he have to be so possessive?

As soon as the last course had been cleared away, I excused myself pleading extreme tiredness, and escaped off to my room. Once in there I changed into a night gown I found in one of the draws.

The second I hit the mattress of the bed, the lights seemed to go of automatically, which worried me a bit, it gave me the feeling that I was being watched, but my earlier excuse had not been made up and I soon drifted off to sleep without even trying. Maybe tomorrow would be a better day?


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 9**

When I wake up, it is definitely not to a better day however. I am still in the overly luxurious room in the Capitol, Cecilia is still pounding on my bedroom door telling me to get ready for breakfast and, to make matters worse, I have a killer headache from the meal last night. Well, at least I think it was from the alcohol, but it is hard to be sure. Back home, whenever I got stressed, I would get really strange dreams and wake up with a blinding pain behind my eyes, just like the dream I had on the day of the reaping, the one where I was a contestant in a hunger games arena. Actually, that dream turned out to be scarily accurate…

After a little trouble with the shower (a small incident where I almost drowned in almond oil) I quickly dressed in the clothing at the bottom of my bed without really looking at the material and then hurried down to the dining hall where the others were already sat eating.

Because of the pain in my temple, I really didn't want to eat much, so I just grabbed an apple out of one of the ornate glass bowls laying around the room and wandered over to take my place, just as Woof reached the punch line of the joke he had been telling and the rest of the table started snorting into their food. Everyone except Seth that was, for some reason, since the second I stepped into the room, he had been staring at me and it was beginning to get more than a little uncomfortable. As he was staring at me so intently, I stared back, so it was easy to see the face he pulled before deliberately kicking me underneath the table… hard! Oh no, he did not just do that!

For the next three minutes we sat there being perfectly polite and calm above the table, but with a fierce battle raging underneath the surface. It was fun, in a strange way, and it was made even better by the fact that the adults didn't even seem to notice any of it, well, until Seth's foot slipped and he ended up booting his stylist in the shin. I know it sounds rather petulant, but while all the adults were looking at, and lecturing him, I decided to stick my tongue out at him, just to prove the fact that I had won. This of course led to him bursting out laughing which led to more lectures and more silly faces and so on.

The only way that they actually found to sober us up was to remind us that the training began today and that we would soon have to face the other tributes on a level playing field, something that I am not afraid to say terrified me, but I had a feeling that it might be at least a little interesting. The thing is, the fight at the table had put me in an exceedingly good mood for once and at the moment, I felt like there was nothing that would get me down, except for… the elevator of course.

The ride down to the training centre was like hell, and this time I was not even able to cling on to Seth for support so instead, my hands clenched together so had that I could physically feel the nails cutting into my flesh, something that was not a good idea considering the fact that I would have to fight with weapons later, but it was something that helped me keep my sanity at least.

As soon as the doors slid open, I was out like a shot, going straight through the restricting door way and into the training hall where a Capitol attendant pinned a number eight to the back of my shirt, and Seth's. In the centre of the room stood a loose ring of the other tributes, but it still looked like there were six missing, for some reason, it appeared that the careers had not seen fit to make their presence felt for a change, not that it was any skin off of my nose. Keeping to the plan we had formulated last night before the parade, Seth and I joined the ring as a pair and I have to say, even though he was going to become an enemy, someone I would have to kill if I myself wanted to live, in just a matter of a few short days, his presence comforted me, not the least to mention that it attracted the gaze of all the other tributes due to his uncommon height.

At 10 o'clock on the dot, our trainer, a hardened veteran named Atlanta, strode forwards and began a speech about all the different training bases and how the training sessions would actually work, but I just tuned her out in favour of examining my fellow tributes.

The six from 1,2 and 4 still hadn't turned up, but that still left 16 other people for me to examine such as the two from district 3 with the ashen skin and twitching eyes that made them look like tiny little mice in front of a mockingjay. I spent so long examining the others that my "brother" had to nudge me to make me aware of the end of the address.

"Where do you want to go little sis? I don't mind, which ever form my revenge takes, it will still be extremely satisfying!"

His question and challenge whispered in my ear make me laugh out loud and I can see some of the others staring at me, but before I can answer, a voice behind us distracts our attention;

"Hey, kid, guy from 8, we wanna talk to you!"

As we look back, my heart sinks, it's the careers. I'm about to whisper something in Seth's ear when his hand comes down on my shoulder and he speaks to me in a voice loud enough for the others to hear;

"Go be a good girl and play with some fire Erika, I'll catch up with you in a second!"

I don't want to, but I guess that Seth is planning something, so instead of staying like I had planned, I run over to the fire lighting station like he suggested, leaving my district partner alone with six kids I had never met before.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 10

While partially listening to the instructor while he talked about the importance of fires and how you really will need to be able to build one out of anything in the arena, I was truly trying to eavesdrop on the conversation between my partner and the careers but annoyingly, they had gone out of the range of my hearing so I had to at least act patient and wait for him to come back. When he finally did however, he didn't say a single thing to me and instead reached for a pack of matches to light his own fire, but there was no way that I was going to leave here without some kind of explanation! Setting the match and box aside I turned on him:

"So?"

"So what?"

"Don't try to be cute, you know what I'm talking about! What did the careers want?"

"Nothing much."

"Which means…?"

"Nothing."

Okay, this conversation was going no where fast, so I decided to leave it for now. That's not to say that I was dropping the matter, but it was a wasted effort right at this moment in time so I decided to go back to coaxing a flame from the dry twigs on the desk.

Over the next few hours, we both picked up many different skills, from fire lighting with these strange little stones to how to fire a bow and arrow (something that seemed to come rather easily to Seth but was more of a problem for me) and how to tie decent knots, but for some reason, I could never really shake the feeling that we were being watched for some reason. Though I guess that was not really surprising as I'm pretty sure that I caught the girl from 4 staring at us at least twice.

At lunch time, I expected that Seth and I would just sit on our own and eat together, what I was _not_ expecting however, was for the 6 tributes from earlier to come and sit with us, almost as though we were all best friends (a highly ridiculous sentiment considering the fact that we would all be trying to kill each other soon), calling us by our first names and everything. It was more than a little uncomfortable, but for some reason, even though I kept pulling on his arm, Seth didn't seem to have a problem with it. Just what exactly happened in their conversation earlier? Now I really regretted letting the matter go.

For some reason, though they seemed to be perfectly friendly towards me, it felt completely fake, which would be so surprising but for the fact that it seemed quite real when they were talking to my "brother" which was the really confusing part until I though of something. I suppose that it could be quite possible that they wanted to have him in their group once the games started, he was quite tall and from our short stay at the wrestling station, I knew that he was rather strong too, though not on the same level as the careers. He had still had to put up with the lack of food that most of the districts had to offer their children, so unlike the ones from 1,2 and 4 he was definitely underfed, but other than that, why did they bother to be so friendly towards us.

The whole thing was so disturbing that I was actually glad to see the capitol personnel who came to clear the carts of food away so that the training could continue. For the rest of that day, I tried to stay away from my district partner, choosing the less popular stations to practice at, like the camouflage and knife throwing bases. I must admit that I spent more time with the knives than with anything else as it was great for stress relief and I was quite good at it actually. It was while I was at this base that I overheard a small part of some whispered conversation between the two form district 1 though what I heard didn't really make sense:

"… are you sure about this?"

"Yes, he will do anything for us!"

"Well you better be because…"

They moved away after this, leaving me to ponder over the short exchange while I was alone, but no context I put it in made any sense, unless… I was so caught up in this new train of thought that I didn't even notice the remainder of our training time that day pass by. I was so distracted that Seth as even able to come up behind me and make me jump… again. That was the second time that he had done it in just two days but, as we got into the lift to return to our floor, I swore to myself that there would not be a third as, if there was, it would likely mean my death.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 11

Over the course of the next few days, I picked up some very valuable tricks, a way to stay calm in a lift being amongst them, but for some reason, I still couldn't shake the feeling that something was happening around me that I had no idea about and, though I tried to ignore it, this feeling made me feel incredibly uncomfortable, so much so that I even started having weird dreams again. Dreams that seemed to be scarily real so that it was hard to tell when I was actually awake and when I was sleeping. They all went like this;

_The sharp clack of rock falling on rock woke me up from a deep sleep, bringing me back to full awareness, making it easier to make out the words of the people below me that had previously been drifting through my dormant mind without making any sense. The people that were talking seemed to be the girl from district 1 and her male counterpart who were supposedly our allies, but some strange form of gut instinct made me listen closely to their words rather than just discard them as was my first though;_

"… _I know he's strong, but why do we need to take little miss 5 with us as well? There is no way we can win with her here!"_

"_well, if she becomes a bother we can just kill her, but if we keep her with us, it means we can gain his trust and we don't have to track the both of them down later. If he thinks we're really on his side, we can easily kill him while he sleeps later, the girl too, but why not keep them around and have them make use of themselves for the time being, I mean she took out Marina at the start…"_

_My panic stopped me from hearing the rest of his sentence as I figured out who they were talking about. Marina. The girl from district 4 that I killed at the cornucopia. These guys were planning how best to kill US!_

_As fast as I could without drawing attention to where we lay on the rock shelf, I soundlessly woke Seth up and in hushed tones, I explained what I had heard just a few seconds before, cluing him in to the, as yet, unseen threat of our "comrades." Though I knew that this was going to happen eventually, it was still a bit shocking hearing those two discuss our deaths so calmly even though they had only just saved our lives a couple hours before. I guess that's what you call a wolf in sheep's clothing._

_It took a couple of minutes for us to organise our stuff, but soon we were ready and heading down the blue/ grey slope of the mountain said, quiet as the shadows that surrounded us, giving us cover as we abandoned these dangerous people who talked about murder so easily… However, our escape was not to be as we had forgotten about the boy from 2, Jett, was on duty tonight and he was a good shot with anything he could throw, as I was soon reminded of by the knife that I soon felt pierce my lower back on the left hand side…_

And that was the point where I always woke up, the sharp pain that felt so real always brought me back to consciousness, a splitting head ache and a racing pulse. The worst thing about this dream however, was not the fact that I had received what was quite possibly a life threatening injury, but was rather the fact that I had only heard the names of the careers after the first time I had had this dream. The tributes from 2 were Jett and Ophelia, the tributes from 4 were Adrian and Marina, and or some reason, they were our new allies… just what the hell was going on here?


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 12

"No! I refuse! We are not doing this!"

"Oh, stop being such a baby Erika, its not like we are begging them to take us in, I mean, _they _approached _me_! So will you stop whining and just go down to the training centre with me like a normal person?"

As you probably guessed, today's conversation was about our new allies and, needless to say, I was the only one in our team _not _thrilled with the invitation Seth received in the last training session for us to join them. Everyone seemed to think that this was the best way for us to stay alive, and honestly? They were right. The only problem was the dream that I kept having, not that I would tell them this, but it still made me reluctant to team up with these new people. Unfortunately, I had to admit that recently, my dreams were being way to accurate with their details, and that was the reason why I just could not let this go, but, of course, no one would listen to the ramblings of a 12 year old girl who had basically been kidnapped and prepared for slaughter over the last few days. Why would they?

Still, even though my earlier objections had borne little fruit, I could not help but try again as we bordered the lift that would take us down to the other tributes, my claustrophobia momentarily forgotten in light of the much more serious threat of getting a knife in my back. Even thinking about it made my shoulders feel strange, it had just felt so real…

"But we can't trust them! You saw what kids from their district did last year, and all the years beforehand!"

"I told you to stop whining. Once we enter that arena, its kill or be killed, can't you understand that? What they did was only a matter of survival!"

For the first time ever in the time that I had actually known Seth, both his gaze and his words were hard as he looked at me, but when he saw my expression the steel in his gaze softened out into something much warmer. This expression was so realistic that it took me in for a moment, and then I remembered that he would be trying to kill me before the end of the month.

"Look, this is the best way for us to stay safe in the arena, it is our best shot at winning this thing. Anyway, if something goes wrong, we can always split off from them when they aren't paying us any attention!"

I would have continued arguing my point, giving more evidence of how untrustworthy careers can be, asking what he meant by "our" chances of survival etc, but the last part of what he said struck too close to my dream that I couldn't help but freeze in surprise. By the time I had recovered, we had arrived at the right floor and the doors were opening, officially closing the topic for discussion. With a growing sense of dread, I stepped out of the small space that was quickly transforming into a place of comfort rather than a place of fear, and into the wider space of our gym like school.

To prevent my mind from dwelling on disturbing topics, such as death and betrayal, I allowed myself to wonder idly about the possibilities of having both agro and claustrophobia, all through the now familiar lecture about what bases would be open when today, and for a little while, it helped, but soon we were off again and things were about to get worse than I could ever imagine.

When we were released to wander around the training stations, the group of 6 strong looking youths from districts 1,2 and 4 started sauntering towards us, their pace that of the invincible. My role around other s was to play the part of a timid little sitter, but I have to admit that I was not completely acting when I clutched Seth's arm out of "fear." The girl from 4, Marina, had my absolute attention as her eyes never left me, not even when their leader, the guy from 1, started speaking:

"So, district 8, what is your answer to our question from yesterday? We sure do hope it is a good one!"

Is it just me, or does the look in his eyes make it seem that he wants to eat us? Torture us at the very least!

"Yes, I'll join you, but you have to let Erika in too. I can't leave my little sister behind now can I?"

I could feel the air changed at Seth's demand, but the reply we received was nothing but civil;

"Oh, no, of course not. Welcome to our team then, Seth _and_ Erika!"

The look in Ophelia's eyes was enough to make my skin crawl as she said these lines. They were the careers. They had been trained for this all their lives and had the confidence to back up their skills. They were not used to receiving demands, especially not from such a no name district as ours. Still, we all maintained a kind of banter as we walked from our spot, and though I joined in, I could not help but think that we were walking into the nest of wolves, and I was a baby lamb!


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 13

Finally, after a long time (3 days) of scrapes, bruises and relentless mockery every time you mess up, our training came to an end. Unfortunately, now it was time for us to perform for the game makers to attain our training scores and the only thing that I was even semi competent at was throwing knives at both stationary and mobile targets. I really did not think that this would impress the group of men and women who had to watch 24 similar displays every year, but it was the best plan I had. I guess this is why I was feeling a little tense as we sat in the gym, waiting to be called in for our private sessions.

"Nice impression of a horse, you gonna impress the game makers with your ability to blend in with wild life?"

"Shove off Seth, now is not the time! Why are you over here anyway?"

"Just trying to cheer up my little sis who looks like she's about to burst into tears at any second."

Even without looking up, it was clear to sense the teasing tone in his words. This, of course, made me feel even worse but instead of starting a fight (which was totally forbidden, might I add) I decided that it would be safer to just glare at the floor, after all, the concrete would not be trying to kill me in 3 days time… actually, that might not be completely true, but still…

"Look, I'm just trying to cheer you up Eri, do you want to talk?"

With this he crouched down next to ma and slipped a "reassuring" arm around my shoulders, it actually felt more like a restraining chain, but there were people around us, and I could see that we were being watched closely by the couple from district 10, now was not the time for a temper tantrum. On the pretence of hugging Seth closer, I placed my lips right next to his ear and started "sobbing".

"I-I I just d-don't k-know what to d-do in there!"

There, that should have been loud enough for our audience, just let them think about that, nosy little… still, Seth could tell that this was not just an act, or at least I think he could because when he replied, there actually seemed to be a weight of truth to his words, almost as if he was thinking carefully as he spoke each word.

"You're a kid, use it. Let them see you cry and wail for a bit, then show them your lethal side, that aught to give them a shock."

That comment shocked me enough that I jerked back and looked him in the eyes for the first time in days (well, the first time since he made me team up with those god awful brats.) Since when was he paying attention to me during training? For he must have been, I had never really done anything deadly at home after all. My surprised face seemed to be highly amusing to my "brother" as a mocking grin spread across his face.

"Just keeping an eye on the competition!"

I got the feeling that he was about to say more, but just then, his head whipped round. Looked like they had called him, not that I had heard, the idiot had been pretending to wipe the non-existent tears from my face, but in the process he had placed his hands over my ears.

I was thinking about our brief conversation as I watched his back disappear behind the door and I couldn't help wondering what course of action he had planned to have such a confident stride. Just before he left, I saw his head turn and he gave me a typically cocky grin before taking the last step, in this situation it was just so far fetched that I simply could not stop myself from cracking up. My sudden burst of laughter was enough to draw disapproving glares or startled glances from the 8 other people in the room, but I just couldn't hep it.

I didn't manage to calm down after that, every time I tried to stop, the little girl from 12 would glance back at me and the fear in her eyes would set me off again. I bet she thought that I was insane, not that it mattered much to me, but I guess it _could _be seen as a bad thing. Still, I just couldn't help myself, the next time she looked at me, I flashed her a quick grin showing my teeth, causing her to burst into tears immediately. Not exactly the reaction I was looking for, but still, it was quite interesting.

Because of this, I didn't really think about what I was going to do after that, but at least my tension was gone. Still, I couldn't help but jump when the door opened after 15 minutes and a soft woman's voice called out "District 8, Erika Falcon."

Numbly, I got to my feet and as I stepped forwards a strange chill flooded through me, making a shiver run down my spine. Suddenly the whole situation didn't seem so humorous anymore. With a growing sense of doom , I stepped through the door and into a smaller room off the back of the training centre where I felt the eyes of over 60 people lock on me. I know I should have been thinking about plans or strategies but the only thought that I could conjure up right then was:

"Damn you Seth!"


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Right, well, I had originally only planed doing the chapter with Seth as the narrator as a one off, but the response for the change was so great (Seriously, so many pms *_*) that I decided to carry on with it. Though Erika is still the main character, Seth will have his chance to shine every 7****th**** chapter or so. Have fun****^_^**

* * *

Chapter 14

(Seth's PoV)

I could tell the second that she decided to trust me in this, her entire countenance changed and she laid her head upon my shoulder just as we set off. The response from the crowd was immediate and she even looked up a little, though she soon hid her face against me again. I preferred it like that. I didn't want these people seeing her face, not when they would quite happily see her killed in an unspeakable manner in just a few short days. Yes, this was better; they didn't deserve to see her face, an angel amongst beast needed as much protection as possible and that was why I was here now.

We stood like this for a long time and I could tell that she grew tired towards the end. Trying to be inconspicuous about it, I shifted my weight and position slightly, pulling her further onto myself so that I would support her more fully than before. I didn't want her to fall now.

Despite all the precautions I took to keep her on her feet, the small girl nearly collapsed when we dismounted from the carriage, but I somehow managed to help her retain her balance. Then we were herded into the small elevator that was to take us to our last place of accommodation. I could tell that she was uncomfortable in such a tight space, she always did hate to be caged up, but there was nothing I could do, she did not trust me enough, not yet.

Though we had managed to remain together throughout our procession and then the transportation to our housing, we had to separate here as we went off to clean up before dinner. I didn't want to let her go, the thought of her being alone and defenceless in her room went against the grain, but I had no other choice, so I allowed her to leave my sight, if only temporarily.

I wanted to hurry, but the shower still perplexed me and I ended up taking longer than our given time to get ready for the meal, but as I walked down the corridor towards the dining room, I found her, trembling, in the door way, reluctant to enter. At first I though that something must have been wrong, so I hurried to her side, but just as I was about to reach out to her, she span round and crashed into me. Unthinkingly I reached to steady her, but she seemed to flinch away from my touch, and I remembered that she thought I was going to try and kill her so I let my hands fall to my sides again.

I soon realised why she had wanted to escape the room and I couldn't help grinning slightly as I took in the scene in front of me, my worries temporarily forgotten. Malachite had once told me of a similar occasion to this when they had tried to celebrate her 8th birthday and she had ended up screaming so loud that I had heard her from the other end of the street. For someone with such a serious nature as Erika, this would be seen as hell, but this was the last chance for happiness that she would probably ever see before the capitol took all the pleasure out of her life for her, I was not going to let her miss it.

The food was good, but I couldn't help feeling a little distracted. Even while all the people around the table were talking about events that concerned us, I did not bother to concentrate on them. Instead, I focused on the small elfin figure that sat there picking at small bits of food on her plate. I don't remember her ever being a picky eater, something must have been wrong with her.

Just as they were serving the dessert, Woof distracted me with a conversation, complementing me on my stance and the way I handled myself etc, but I ended it as quickly as I could. However, in the time my attention had been elsewhere, the capitol attendants had served the dessert wine with the food and some fool had decided to give some to Erika. Unable to control my reaction, I leant over and snatched the glass out of her hand, ignoring her glare, and lectured the moron who thought it acceptable to give alcohol to a 12 year old. I really don't think that people in the capitol had any brains.

I was fuming over this for the rest of the night and I excused myself not long after she did, claiming that I had a headache to get them to leave me alone. I am thankful that I made up this lie actually, when I entered my room, I noticed a small, white tablet on a pate with a glass of water near my bed. The note next to it identified the drug as a sleeping pill. That night I had no dreams to speak of.

In the morning, I awoke early and because of this, I was the first to the dining hall. I sat there chewing on one of the soft rolls I had taken from a basket in one of the corners, watching the people as they finally appeared. I guess you could call people watching my hobby, but I now do it as a matter of course. The prep teams were not meeting us today, but our stylists were still there, is it bad that I do not even know their names?

The last one to arrive was Erika, though I am beginning to suspect that that is a regular pattern in her behaviour now. Still, today she looked too pale and she only picked up a small apple for her breakfast. Something must be wrong with her. I was pondering this while looking at her face, so I noticed when she started glaring back at me. The look of challenge in her eyes was such that I really decided to tease her. I quickly squished my face up before aiming my foot at her leg. She soon retaliated, just like I knew she would, and for a short while we were both there trying not to laugh and I wished that this would carry on until it was time to go. Unfortunately, due to my own mistake, we were found out, but I didn't mind, at least her mood had improved.

Down in the training centre so many people looked at us as we entered, not that I was really surprised, but it was still a little uncomfortable to be singled out already.

When the lecture from the head instructor ended, we were just about to go to our first station, the 6 people who had been missing initially, called out to me, it looked like they had just arrived. I didn't like the tone of their voices, it made me feel uncomfortable, but I sent Erika away with a teasing phrase, I didn't want her to worry. As soon as she was safely out of the way, the conversation started in earnest and, although I tried to remain nonchalant, I couldn't help thinking that my words were wavering a little. To cover this, I enthused my words with sarcasm in an attempt to sound bored.

"And to what, might I ask, do I have to thank for this honour?"

I accompanied my words with a mock bow that seemed to really set them over the edge, they didn't like people talking back to them. In a second I was pinned up against the wall by my throat. I'm glad now that I sent Erika away.

"Look, wise guy, this is how it is. We want you to be our _ally" (_the boy twisted this one word in a horrific fashion) "while we are in the arena. So, what do you say?"

I didn't like this situation, but I still had to act like this didn't effect me, so instead I just grinned at him before replying;

"well, you don't look to friendly right at this moment. Don't you think the choke hold might act a tiny bit like a deterrent?"

This line, I don't know where it came from, but even as it left my lips I knew it wasn't a good idea. Instead of letting go, the guy holding me only tightened his grip making it harder for me to breathe. HE placed his face inches from mine before muttering a threat that made my blood run cold.

"Well, maybe you'll be more amenable if we bring your little sister over here, for protection you know, better to keep her close right? After all, wouldn't it be… unfortunate, if something bad happened to her when we stepped into the arena? Not after how you bravely volunteered yourself to help her , right?"

I couldn't help glancing over at Erika after this, to where she crouched, with her back to us, attempting to light a fire. As we watched her, she gave a small woop and started laughing as she succeeded in coaxing a small flame from the cloth she was holding. As she sat there, laughing with the innocence of a small child, I couldn't help but think about how defenceless she looked in that second.

With a feeling similar to jumping of a cliff when you have no idea how deep the water was at the bottom, I looked back at the face of my captor. A smug smile was perched there as I glanced back and he let go. I could so easily have hit him in that second where he let his guard down, but he knew that I wouldn't, he knew he had won.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 15

(Erika)

Somehow, and I mean somehow as I have no idea how I did it, I passed the training and managed to get a reasonable score (even if I don't remember actually doing anything) so me team were in a rather good mood for the next trial, the interviews. Fortunately, I didn't have to waste any time with the capitol idiots today, nope, for today I got to spend the whole time with my new best friend… Cecelia!

Once we were locked into her room at around 8 o'clock (both of us wanted an early start, after all, this was the matter of life and death… ah bad joke) I felt just about ready to collapse into the proffered chair, all the strength draining out of my limbs. For the past few days, I had had to act the sweet, innocent little girl who relies on her brother for everything, it was a relief to actually be able to be myself around someone from home, and after all, I would not get a chance like this again.

"So, what are we going to do for the interview tomorrow? I guess I am still going to have to act young, sweet and innocent right? Or are we gonna go for a brand new look? Though I guess that that's an impossible task right at the moment."

Her answering smile gave me the information she didn't even have to say and I sighed, looks like I would have to carry on with the act for the rest of my life, though, worst case scenario, that wouldn't be for a very long time. Best to look on the bright side don't you think?

Still, for the rest of the day, I was enclosed in that room with the person who would soon have the control over whether I would live or die, and to be honest, 16 hours wasn't half as long as I would have liked, still, a night's rest would be much more useful than a few more hours discussing strategies. I felt like a miser however, hoarding every waking second I had, but then, I guess I could be excused on this account; it wasn't as though I had many of them left.

That night, my dreams were strange, I felt as though it was a memory, but it couldn't possibly be one of mine. Still, it was an image of home, and that alone was comforting, especially in this kind of situation. I didn't expect to find any comfort so far away from home and the people I love, as such I clung to it and didn't want to let go. The next morning I woke up with tears in my eyes, feeling my actually age for once, with fear and distress taking away the sarcasm and mistrust I normally displayed. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

I wanted to lay in that morning, but there was no way that that was ever going to happen, today was the time of the televised interviews where the capitol would get to meet the tributes as people for the first, and last, time. It was a big event, and of course, it was the duty of me, and my prep team, to look my best and be presentable for the millions of people who would be staring at my image tonight. Unfortunately, that meant that any rest I had wanted to steal had to be forfeit for extra time being clipped, polished and buffed. By the end, I was the cleanest that I had ever been in my life and I was too afraid to move in case I ruined the clean image the capitol magic had created.

After a very brief lunch, and I mean brief as in one roll of bread and a tiny scrap of cheese, I was shoved off into a room off of the side of the main "beauty lab" wearing just a towel to cover myself from the cold air, to meet my stylist again. Oh what fun this was going to be, at least now I could show how much I hated this whole event and this could be a chance to vent my anger out on someone.

"Why the hell do you have to put us through this? Why can't you just shove us off into the arena without all the extra bits? Is it not enough that you have to kill us but you want to ridicule and torment us as well? Its just…"

I didn't realise that I was crying until my words were cut off by a chocking sound in my throat and my legs collapsed without warning. Even if this was unexpected, the thing that happened next was even stranger. I knew that Roza was a strong person, she respected people with a tough personality so I thought that this display of weakness would disgust her. I was fully prepared to be shouted at, or scolded for the lack of self control. What I wasn't prepared for however, was for her to crouch down on the floor with me and pull me into a really tight hug.

"There there, there there. I was wondering when you were going to break down. You know this happens every year."

In the end, I cried for much longer than I would have ever admitted to, and my entire facial makeup had to be completely redone meaning we were running short of time to get down to where the interviews would be filmed, but even without the late appearance, I had the feeling that I would have been the centre of attention anyway. I did look very different from all the other girls, the ones whose stylists had attempted to look as provocative and appealing as possible, but, after all, they were older, I was only twelve.

My stylist had tried to do something unique, instead of trying to make me look older, she had actually succeeded in making me appear younger by putting me in a shimmering summer dress similar to the one I had worn in the parade, but which also illustrated the fact that I was rather short. The long sleeves of the dress were sliced down the arm making it looks as though I had wings. I was a fairy, I was separate from the crowd around me, I could distinguish myself and leave a lasting impression. Needless to say, I loved it!


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 16

Because of my tardiness, the wait in the underground room just down from the stage was only about a minute, but it was still enough to get sick of the stares I was receiving from the other tributes, still, I might as well play it up and to the fullest extent. Plastering an innocent, (and fake) smile across my face, I ran straight up to Seth, who was wearing a really cool, emerald dragon patterned suit, and jumped onto his back, giving him a big hug. Needless to say, I got some really disapproving looks from the staff, not to mention the murderous glares I got from the guys from district 1, but the smug satisfaction of catching Seth unawares, after all the times he had surprised me was enough to make up for this. However, though I would have been quite happy to go onto the stage by getting a piggy back ride, the staff made me get down and act properly. Kill joys!

In the end, we were given a count down and then told to walk on to the stage in a line, we had already been lined up in order of district, and I didn't like it, even though I was stood directly in front of Seth (the girl tributes going first for this instance) I still didn't like the fact that there were 8 other people in my blind spot, it made me shift uneasily in the shadows, and it also made me glad that Roza had put me in pumps, not heels.

One onstage, we were greeted by a painfully bright light and a noise not dissimilar to the engines that power the factories back home, even though it was unknown to me, I guess, the sound was a little bit familiar and because of this, I found myself relaxing as I walked up and took my seat between the guy from district 7 and my "brother." Funny, I thought I would be nervous in this sort of situation, but I guess not. In fact, I was totally at ease in the spotlight even remembering to kick my legs and grin like a happy child.

The light on stage and the noise grew until I felt that the world was falling into chaos, but it turned out that the show was just starting, as was proven by the entrance of Caesar Flickerman, who, with his violet hair and lips, looked inhuman to say the least.

One by one, the tributes were called up to talk with Flickerman and they all had 3 minutes to make their own impressions on the eagerly watching crowd, but, in a throng of 24 kids, there were only a few that stood out. Namely Ophelia, Marina and the boy from 3, I don't know his name. Ophelia showed off with her body which could easily bee seen through an extremely clingy, crimson dress, but also, her remarks seemed to have a sharp bite of an unexpected intelligence hiding behind their flippancy. Marina was shocking in a dazzling dress that made her look as though she was sheathed in the sea itself, not surprising really as she was district 4, but still, it looked really pretty, and every time she moved, miniscule diamonds flashed up and down her skirt. I guess the only thing that really stood out with her was the dress though, now that I think about it anyway.

The guy from district 3 however, I don't think I will ever forget him. He was one of the taller guys, but I thought he was very quiet from the training, but I guess I couldn't have been further from the mark, when he spoke, it was with a little cockyness, but with an inherent intelligence that filed his every word and made me feel that he would not be one that you could ignore once we had entered the arena.

Still, even though I say that there were only a few people that stood out, I sort of, stopped caring after the first 7 tributes and began to amuse myself by internally laughing at the strange fashion which was on display in the capitol audience. That's why, when my name was called, I was a little slower responding that I probably should have been. Still, I was supposed to be nervous so I don't think anyone would care much, it might actually serve to reaffirm my weak little kid image…

I intentionally stumbled a little as I made my way up to centre stage where Caesar was waiting expectantly, and from the look on his face, I could tell that he had already been taken in by the act, he was going to be really kind to me in this interview, not that he was unhelpful to the others, indeed, he was very kind to them, but then, I was special, I was young, and I could use this!

"Now, ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce the young girl from district 8, Erika Falcon!"

A huge round of applause and, as if I had been encouraged I grin politely up at the watching people and pretend to wipe a tear away. Then I turn back towards my interviewer and prepare to answer the oncoming questions with the answers we had scripted earlier, unfortunately, it had been impossible to imagine every scenario and this one was something I was not prepared for, still a little ad lib never ruined anything… yet.

"So then, Erika, what did your brother say to you before you came onstage tonight? Any words of encouragements you have heard so far that you want to say thank you for?"

"Um… not really… I think the last thing that Seth actually said to me was "Get the hell off of my back Erika" but that's cause… well, I had climbed on his back before we came on. It was fun!"

My smile grew as I spoke and I found that, instead of acting, I had actually just gone out and said what I had felt. Ah well, it had the audience laughing and that was good enough for me. From this point on, I decided to just answer the questions however I felt like it, though I would probably have to deal with the wrath of Cecelia if I screwed this up…

"Ah, yes, well, I can imagine that that didn't go down to well. Did anyone else say anything?"

"oh yes, I was immediately told I had to climb down, but it was fun while it lasted!"

And so on the interview went for the full 3 minutes and I believe that I had the audience doubled over in laughter at some point, still, I must have been a lot more nervous than I had first thought as, when I was finally allowed to return to my seat, I nearly collapsed into the supporting form, and my mind started wandering for a while. In fact, I only came back to my surroundings when it was time to stand for the anthem at the end of the program. After this we were led off of the stage and back to our rooms.

That night it finally hit home, tomorrow night we would be in the arena and it was a safe bet to say that at least some of the kids on that stage tonight would be dead. I couldn't help wondering absently if one of them was going to be me, but then I drifted of and I couldn't worry over it anymore. That night, my head was filled with nightmares. All of them, different ways in which I would die the next day.

And then the morning came…


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 17

The Next morning we had an early start, so unfortunately there was no way for me to have a lay in, something I desperately needed as the afore mentioned nightmares kept waking me at odd times and refusing to allow me back to the restful land of dreams. By the time I was in the hovercraft that was to take me to the arena, I was swaying where I stood, feeling just like a zombie… oh well, at least I was prepared for the near future anyway. That being said, if the ladder up to this form of transport hadn't had a mechanism that froze me to the ladder the second I touched it, I fear that I would have fallen and the game makers would have had to start the game a person short. I almost whished I had fallen though, at least then my death would not be public.

The flight by hovercraft (a new experience for me) took roughly about two and a half hours which explained the early start and would have given me a chance for a little more rest apart from the fact that my nerves seemed to be at breaking point already and, half way through the journey, a man with a with jacket came up to me and injected some strange device into my arm. They claimed that it was a tracker, but all I knew was that it hurt like hell and created a little lump in my left forearm. A lump I tried my best to ignore.

Once we had arrived, we were all lead off into our own little prep rooms where we would spend the rest of our time before the game began (and for a few of us, it would be where we spent the last day of our lives). The prep, or "launch" room as it was called (we just called it the storage vault for reasons I don't really feel like explaining now that I'm in one) was a small, cave like place, with a chilly air drifting around and a tube in one corner. Once it was time for the game to start, we would be loaded into those tubes and moved up above ground and into the arena to our starting points around the cornucopia. One thing I had not expected in this room however, was Roza who stood in one of the corners with a rather serious expression on her abnormally pale face. Looked like I was not the only one who was dreading what today would bring.

The last time I had seen my stylist, I had, rather embarrassingly, broken down into tears, but as this was going to be our last goodbyes, I was determined not to do something so childish, still, despite my resolve, when I looked up at her, now familiar (if not slightly strange) face, I couldn't quite help the lump that I felt rise in my throat. Without a word, I just walked over to her and she hugged me again. Somehow, even though it had been less than a week since I had first met this woman, this action comforted me, and acted in a way that soothed my racing heart so that I could breathe properly again. Because of this, I didn't immediately notice the black garment back that sat on the table next to where we stood. Inside were the clothes that I would wear for the games, something that neither I nor my stylist had seen before.

With trembling hands, I unzipped the bag and got my first hints at what may lay await in the arena, unfortunately, it also made me sick. These clothes, the light, breathable fabric of the white shirt that would cover all of my upper body, and the loose, tan trousers with the leather belt, according to Roza, they were the clothes that one would wear in the dessert, but that was not what had upset the delicate balance of my stomach, no, what had made me feel so queasy was the fact that I had seen them before, both in the dream I had had the morning of the reaping and in the dream where I had been injured by the knife of one of the careers. But what did that mean?

Silently, I dressed in the proffered clothes and then crouched down onto the cold stone floor, I didn't think that my legs would support me for much longer as it was and I didn't want to risk injuring myself by falling at such a late stage. Still, the cool air slowly began to leech the warmth from my limbs and I felt like I was petrifying, turning into the stone that surrounded me, but if that would let me escape the ordeal that lay before me, I guess I would welcome it. As I lost more and more of my body heat, I couldn't help wondering if this was what it was like to die.

In the time that I remained in that room, there was nothing available to distract me from my morbid thoughts so I just sat there, incapable of moving, paralysed by my mind while I fell deeper and deeper into the darkness of my own creation. The more I feared the darkness, the darker the fears grew, the darker they grew, the more I feared them, it was a merciless, unending cycle, dragging me further and further down.

I was so far lost in the workings of my own mind that it took a while for Roza's voice to cut through to my mind and register there. When it did, the words were of very little comfort as they were only:

"Erika, it is time to go! You need to go into the tube now. "

There was no emotion in her voice, I guess she too believed that I would not last too long in this place. There was no way that I was going to win, we all knew it. This place was to be my grave and my suffering was to be transmitted out to the public as a form of entertainment. I felt like I was going to be sick again.

On trembling legs I slowly stood, my joints complaining after the long time spent locked in one position, and, like a drunkard, I stumbled over to the plate at the bottom of the tube. I did not look at the woman beside me as I passed, I did not want to say a good bye, but I had to turn once I had reached the spot I was meant to stand on. The cold and inhospitable from before had somehow turned into a very appealing place, but then, anywhere would be preferable to the oncoming hell that I was soon to be a part of.

Without warning, a glass door slid across the entrance to the tube, sealing me off from the last friendly face I would see in my life, trapping me in a tight, enclosed space. At this point, I was shaking so hard with the fear of death that even my claustrophobia could not find any footing upon which it could take a hold.

I had one last look at the tear streaked face of my stylist before the plate beneath my feet shuddered and began to move upwards at a measures pace, plunging me into darkness as the ground swallowed me whole.


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 18

The blinding light that meets my eyes is almost painful after the long time spent in the embrace of the earth that now rests beneath my feet, but once I finally manage to adjust to the sudden intensity, my heart stops. This place, the perfect circle of grass surrounded by the ring of woods, it is identical to the dream I had at home, on the night of the reaping… I don't even have to look behind me to know that from the shadows behind me, grow the ragged peeks of the mountains where my second dream was based… but what des this all mean?

I get 60 seconds t wonder about the meaning of my dreams, but there is no way that I am ever going to get any longer, if I do, it could mean my death. In the end, I do not even know what I am doing until the gong sounds, snapping me back to reality, and my eyes lock n the set of 12 knives that are lodged in the sodden ground around 5 meters in front of me and I start running.

The grass is slick underneath my feet and the leather boots offer no help in this area, so, when I try to stop and grab a weapon, I slip and fall. A mistake I know might very well cost me dearly, but it stunned me for a few seconds. When I finally go to regain my footing, I find that Marina is staring at me with a face that says she wants me dead. The sound of my blood rushing through my ears cuts out all other noises, but I still manage to hear her whisper as she stoops to claim one of the gleaming blades:

"One down, twenty two to go!"

Then she takes one more step towards me and I close my eyes, not wanting to see the knife enter my body, but, in the next second, I realise, I'm still alive! The shock wrenches my eyes open in time to see the black handle go flying past my shoulder and imbeds itself into some unlucky person behind me. I don't look round; I can feel the warm spray of their blood hit me on the back of the head. Marina has never missed a target with her weapons, and I doubt that she would be starting now; if I let her reload, (and she had plenty of extra, gleaming blades on hand) I would not live long enough to regret my mistake. My only chance is to take her out now, even if we were supposed to be allies.

All thought leaves my mind and instinct took over. As though my body belonged to someone else, I felt it charge forward and begin t grapple with the girl's stunned form, though the surprise doesn't last long and she begins to take the upper hand, using her strength and training to her own advantage. It is only when her arm begins to tighten around my neck when my own actually comes back to me. I don't know how it happens, but I suddenly feel my body shift and suddenly she is flying to the ground over my left shoulder. I was so focused on our little skirmish that I had completely forgotten that other such battles raged around us, so the sudden appearance of the warm, red liquid from the centre of her stomach where it has been pierced by a long metal blade makes me jump and my mind is dragged back to reality with a start. To stop her suffering I slit Marina's throat.

The second she falls still, I let the weapon fall from my hand in disgust and my gut twists uncomfortably so that I feel like I'm going to be sick again. The sensation is so strong that it roots me in place, almost as though the ground has opened up again and swallowed me, claiming me back into its icy depths. I just killed a person! Even though she had been perfectly okay with killing me, the words still kept repeating in my mind… I had killed her. No one else. Me.

I was a murderer!

This thought takes over my mind and locks all my joints, my vision narrows and I just want to scream, why did I have to do this? What good would it do anyone? How on earth could the people in the capitol find this entertaining? Perhaps I would have stayed like this for a much longer time, maybe it would have killed me, but my survival instinct would never allow it and I begin to run towards the woods, away from the battle and away from the unforgivable act that I had just committed. Unfortunately, I only go a few seconds before I fall again, going head first into the sodden soil.

As my mouth begins to fill with the seeping blood that runs from the gory battle scenes that litter the grass, I want to scream but the lump in my throat restricts the sound and it ends up as more of a whimper that is muffled my the earth, this is what allows me to hear the footsteps that approach me from behind, though before I have time to fear for my life, I am lifted up and placed on my feet, something I did not expect. Standing in front of me is Jett, the boy from district 2 and he was grinning at me.

"You know that mud is not a very nutritious breakfast for a little girl right Erika? Anyway, its time to go, the others are gathering by the cornucopia to check over the equipment and plan our next move. Seth sent me to get you."

With that, he grabs a hold of my arm and walks me over to the giant metal horn that holds all the items that would be essential for the games, the items that were now ours thanks to the fight. As we walk, I try not to glance at the floor, but I cannot help but count. 1. 2. 3 and 1/2. 4…. 9. There are 9 dead in total which leaves 15 of us left. As we finally reach the others and Seth comes to check on me, I suddenly feel cold and a thought fits through my head. And so begins the 71st hunger games… I really hope the odds are in my favour!


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 19

We do not spend much time in the clearing, after all, none of us much like to be around dead bodies, and the capitol will not remove the corpses until we are long gone. Unfortunately, it still takes quite a while for us to be ready to move out, there are weapons that need to be collated and supplies that need to be packed into rucksacks and divided amongst the 5 of us.

Through all the time we spend sorting ourselves out, I do not go further than a few paces away from Seth, never anywhere where he can't see me. Not that I would have wanted to, after my experience in the last few minutes, but his overprotective attitude is more than a little overbearing. I refrain from mentioning that however, and just continue to act out the "little girl who is so scared that she can hardly move" without a flaw. Honestly? I wasn't really acting.

After a rough half hour or so, we set out towards the surrounding ring of trees, hunting the others. We are just about to leave the clearing when the cannons begin and it is certain that there were 9 dead so far today. I deeply hope that there are not any more, but then, this is the hunger games, what are the odds of that?

Under the trees, it is dark and the air drops in temperature quite dramatically, I don't really like it, visibility is pretty much non- existent, even with our torches, the tree trunks are just too close together for us to make out anything more than a few spaces in front of your face, more than once, Seth's strong arm stops me from walking into the wickedly sharp branch that protrudes from the main body of the black trees at exactly head height. At one point we hear another cannon which, resounding like a gun shot in the emptiness, makes us all jump and look around uncomfortably. My brother tightens his arm around my waist, almost as though he is reminding himself that I am still safely by his side.

We proceed like this for several hours with only a few brakes, and even if I am one of the best in my district for endurance in my age group, I cannot go on indefinably. As more time goes on, I begin to stumble and use Seth as more of a support than anything else. I just can't keep my eyes open and without warning, I just fall into the darkness. It seems like my fall will never end, I lose all awareness of my surroundings and my senses go numb. I don't like the feeling of compete and total helplessness that envelopes me.

"… _I WILL kill you, don't doubt that!"_

"_look, I apologised so may times already, I didn't mean to cause so much damage! I swear I thought the knife was blunt!"_

_The second voice breaks off with a large SLAP and I get the feeling that he has just been knocked on the floor, but this whole situation makes no sense, weren't we just walking through the woods? How did I get into this strange, stale smelling place which was oddly warm._

_I tried to shift into a sitting position so that I could actually make some sense of my surroundings, but the second I move, a blinding pain flashes down my spine sending e reeling back into the darkness with only the glimpse of Seth's pale and terrified face in my mind._

The screaming wakes me up with a start and, when I jump, I almost fall off of Seth's broad back, only managing to retain my place as his strong grip holds me firm.

"Morning sleepy head! Had a nice nap?" He mumbles over his shoulder to me, but there is no humour in is words, instead, he sounds tense, almost as though he is gritting his teeth. But then his words slip through my muddled mind and I slide off of him hurriedly, glad for the darkness that hides my blush. I must have fallen asleep while we were walking and then he must have carried me since. I didn't like it.

At first, it seems like the scream that suddenly rips through the trees is a welcome distraction, but then I catch a glimpse of the scene around the glowing embers just in front of us. Silhouetted against the light is the image of the girl from 10, the girl who was only about a year older than me and who had been an interesting person to talk to in training and, standing over her is Adrian, his face twisted in malice and bloodlust. The screaming cuts of with a wet sounding slit and when he releases her hair, her body slumps to the floor.

As I hear the cannon fire, I turn away from the light, I don't want anyone to see my tears, not that this would hide my expression from the capitol audience, but it will cover it up from those around me. I walk off a little way, trying to quell the uneasy feeling that is rising like bile in my stomach, and I don't pay much attention to my surroundings, so when I feel a warm hand fall on my shoulder, I assume it is Seth who must have followed me. Without thinking, I turn around and snuggle up to the broad shouldered figure in front of me, but when his arms gently wrap around my waist in a grip so tight that I cannot even begin to move, I realise that I had been wrong, this was not my district partner, he was too strong, too rough…

"Don't scream Erika, I don't want to be killed by your brother."

With a jolt, I realise the person holding me is Jett, but, that makes no sense… Anyway, the shock kills the scream that I had in deed been preparing to let loose, and he quickly continues with what he had been saying.

"You need to get out of here, and get out of here soon. Don't trust the others, they fear your brother, but they have no qualms in killing you. The two of you better run and run fast. I will help you if I can!"

That's it, that's all I get. No explanation, no help to decipher these words. He cuts off when the others walk up to us and Seth once again claims me. I am left reeling in the darkness with not even a hope of light to help me find the answer. Why on earth would Jett be helping me? Could this be a trick? Or were there things going on that I had never even begun to imagine?

However, as we set off again into the darkness, something in my head clicked and I realised something: The second voice I had heard in my dream had been his, but what did that mean?


	21. Chapter 21

**Chapter 20**

For the next few hours, nothing around us seemed to change. The same darkness could be felt no matter where you went and the trees weren't exactly individual in their appearances. Because of all this however, I can't really say how long it took to get out of the thick greenery, though the constant battle with the underbrush soon drained any strength that my nap had restored from my limbs. Still the night dragged on.

All the while that we were moving, I was thinking, even if my brain wasn't at its best, I just couldn't stop mulling over the "conversation" I had just had with Jett. The first part was pretty easy to believe, after all, I knew that the careers wanted me dead, but why would he want to help me? Without having to do much other than follow Ophelia through the narrow passage, my mind had plenty of time to run over all the different possibilities, but nothing made sense, and then there was the dream…

By now, I was beginning to feel that my dreams had become disturbingly accurate of late, so, no matter how hard I tried, I just could not bring myself to disregard the latest one. Even if there wasn't much to be gained from it, the experience still felt like a warning, it had been so real that it must mean something. I thought about how it tied in with the dream I had before, about the time when we were on the mountains and I took a knife to the back, obviously, the night in the cave (at least I think it was night time in the dream) must have come after that, but if Jett really was on our side, why would he throw the knife in the first place? How would he get away from the others? Why would he want to? The more I thought about it, the more confused I got, and, when it became clear that the only reward I would gain from continuing the matter would be a massive headache, I soon gave up the chase, but even then, it was not particularly because I wanted to.

I had been so preoccupied in my own head, tat I hadn't noticed the others stop, so I soon made a fool out of myself by tumbling down a hill and landing flat on my face. Needless to say, the others found this highly entertaining. Beneath me, small, gritty particles cut into my exposed flesh and the stored heat was pretty hard to ignore. The ground was no longer the soft, loamy soil that had been present in the clearing at the cornucopia, instead it felt dry and abrasive against my tongue as it quickly filled my mouth. Obviously, this was not the best of positions to be in, but, I did have to play the role of the terrified child (though that was becoming easier the longer we remained in this insane place) so I simply lay there until someone had the decency to help me up. Not that I was really happy about this apathy as it made me an easy target for anyone that might want to harm me, but I had to seem petrified and exhausted to gain the sympathy from the viewers.

Why my was again caressed by the cool night air, the contrast between temperatures brought tears to my eyes, an unintentional, but nice, touch to my act, and I leaned into the person holding me for support. When I looked up, expecting to see Seth, my blood ran cold when I saw who it was. Adrian. And he was smiling.

Now, I cant pretend to be an expert in the personalities of the careers, having never really wanting to talk to them myself, but I knew that Adrian was not well known for his cool headedness. Once, in training, one of the girls stood on his foot and he had kicked her into a corner before the capitol attendants had even noticed anything, not that they cared really, but still, you have to admit that the speed at which he lost it was pretty extraordinary. Also, from their interactions, I could tell that he and his district partner had been close, the district partner that I had killed. His grin sent a shiver down my spine.

As quickly as I could, I moved away from him and stumbled over to Seth, my lack of grace partly to do with my weariness, but mostly to do with the way my feet slipped on the new terrain. Looking down at my feet I now saw that it was sand. We were standing in the middle of a large stretch of desert, and at the far end, about 2 miles ahead of us, there stood a ring of mountains that seemed to blood out of the ground like the petals of a crimson flower. Or the bloodstained teeth of a monster, though I didn't really want to think about the other, it simply brought up memories of old hunger games, and the picture of a sandy haired boy laying in a box, with the mocking jays singing overhead, and the sense of finality as the lid was shut… I didn't even know I was crying until my "brother" wiped the tears away.

We all gathered at the crest of the hill, surveying the open landscape before us, and discussing our next course of action. In this talk, it soon became clear that I was not the only one who felt dead on their feet, so we soon decided to set up camp for the night, right on the spot we stood so that we were close enough to either escape into the desert or hide in the woods, Jett volunteered to take the first watch.

As I settled down in my sleeping bag however, I felt a pair of eyes burning holes into my back and I tried to ignore the fact that Adriane was giving me a death glare that could quite easily become a knell. Silently, I shuffled closer to where Seth and the boy who swore to protect me sat, taking comfort from their closeness. I surrendered myself to the darkness once again and my first day in the arena ended.


End file.
